Day: May 19, 2023

Vietnam always considers the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as one of its most important partners in the Middle East, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien told Ambassador of the UAE to Vietnam Bader Almatrooshi at a reception for the diplomat on May 19 in Hanoi.

Dien said that Vietnam highly values the role and position of the UAE as a leading economic, trade, financial, tourism, and logistics center in the world and the Middle East region.

The host and the guest discussed economic, trade, and energy cooperation issues of mutual interest.

Dien expressed his pleasure at the two side’s active coordination in implementing many important cooperation activities in recent years, especially the exchange of views on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between Vietnam and the UAE.

He suggested the two sides closely coordinate to successfully organise the 5th meeting of the Vietnam – UAE Intergovernmental Committee in October 2023, and continue with internal procedures in accordance with regulations towards negotiating and signing the Vietnam – UAE CEPA as soon as possible.

The minister underlined the need for the two sides to soon negotiate to sign a memorandum of understanding on energy cooperation and proposed the UAE create favourable conditions for cooperation between petrol and gas businesses of the two countries.

He called on UAE businesses to study and invest in developing renewable energy, chemical, and supporting industries, material production, and industrial parks in potential economic zones of Vietnam.

For his part, Almatrooshi spoke highly of Dien’s proposals, saying that the UAE government always considers Vietnam an important partner in the Asia-Pacific region and wishes to strengthen multifaceted cooperation with the Southeast Asian nation.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) plays an important role in promoting cooperation activities between the two countries, he said, noting that he will support and closely coordinate with the ministry and relevant agencies to promote the settlement of issues mentioned by the Vietnamese side.

If signed in the coming time, the CEPA will have a huge impact on bilateral economic, trade, and investment cooperation activities, he stressed.

The diplomat expressed his hope that the 5th meeting of the Vietnam – UAE Intergovernmental Committee will be an important cooperation mechanism to help the two sides promptly review the bilateral cooperation, thereby agreeing on effective measures to expand all-around cooperation.

The UAE side will send a delegation of large UAE groups and enterprises to Vietnam in June this year to seek trade and investment cooperation opportunities, he revealed.

Almatrooshi affirmed that he will work closely with the MoIT to further promote cooperation between Vietnam and the UAE in the coming time.

Statistics showed that the UAE is Vietnam’s largest trade partner in the Middle East and African regions. In recent years, two-way trade between the two countries has averagely reached 5 billion USD per year. The UAE is also an important transit point for Vietnamese goods exported to the Middle East and Africa./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The over PHP16-million shared processing facilities for copra and refined bleached deodorized oil to be constructed inside the 10-hectare Guimaras agri-fishery industrial village in Barangay Sapal, Nueva Valencia town is expected to benefit more or less 2,000 coconut farmers in the province. Guimaras Governor JC Rahman Nava, in an interview following the groundbreaking ceremony on Friday, said since farmers are organized, the shared processing facilities will give them added market instead of purely copra. “When we say additional market, it gives options to our farmers, particularly coconut farmers, and we are confident that it can benefit them in terms of increasing income since we provide a steady and added market,” he said. The governor said coconut is their second top product in the province after palay. Mango, which is their flagship commodity, comes in third. Guimaras Provincial Office for Agricultural Services head Alvin Nava, in an interview, said that based on the data from the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), around 7,859 hectares of the agricultural area in the province are planted with coconut. There are 651,894 bearing and 117,331 non-bearing trees as per PCA-Guimaras. Their main products are mostly copra, matured coconut or lahin and young coconut locally known as buko, sold mostly in the local and Iloilo markets. The governor said that the project that will be implemented by the Philippine Center for Post-Harvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) is going to be expedited although they have yet to enter into an agreement with the cooperating agencies since there are more than 10 government agencies involved. While the project will be managed by their cooperative, the provincial government will also be around to supervise since it stands on province-owned property. Ryan Monceda of the PCA Project Management Office, in providing an overview of the project, said that the shared processing facilities are a vital component of the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan (CFIDP) of the coco-levy trust fund. The project responds to the third objective of the CFIDP, which is the rehabilitation and modernization of the coconut industry toward farm productivity. The shared facilities will offer services like manufacturing, packaging labeling, storing, and marketing of selected coconut products for distribution to local and international markets. It will also be equipped with vehicles, coconut harvesting equipment, basic testing instrument, and other ancillary equipment for processing. The Department of Trade and Industry is expected to assist in the marketing while the Agricultural Training Institute will handle the training. The Department of Public Works and Highways will look into the infrastructure support, and the Cooperative Development Authority will lead the establishment of a farm service group, among others.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Vietnam’s banking sector has invested over VND15,000 trillion in digital transformation by the end of 2022, according to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).

The effort has started bearing fruits as the Southeast Asian economy maintained a 40% growth rate in digital payments in the last four years, making it one of the world’s fastest-growing economies in banking digital transformation.

Banks have reported up to 90% of their transactions were handled through digital channels with as many as 74.63% of Vietnamese adults having a bank account, SBV Governor Nguyen Thi Hong said at the Banking Industry Digital Transformation Day 2023, held Hanoi on May 18.

In addition, by the end of March this year, 3.71 million Mobile-Money accounts had been opened, with over 70% of them being in rural, remote, and disadvantageous regions across the country.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai said a speedy digital transformation must go hand in hand with stronger measures to ensure security and trust among the population. He urged the sector to closely collaborate with government ministries and agencies to minimise the risk of attacks on digital banking systems.

Transformation

Digital transformation has helped the banks bring down the cost-to-income ratio to as low as 30%, on par with regional and international standards.

In 2022, the interbank electronic payment system processed approximately 155.2 million transactions with a value exceeding 196.36 trillion VND, a 29.90% increase in value. The financial switching and electronic clearing system processed nearly 4.83 billion transactions with a value of about 46.82 trillion VND, an increase of 96.63% in volume and 87.30% in value.

By the end of 2022, the total number of ATMs in the country reached 21,038, and the number of POS terminals reached 410,743, corresponding to a growth of 3.11% and 26.94% respectively compared to 2021. The low increase in ATM numbers could also indicate a positive trend, as people increasingly prefer non-cash payment methods.

Non-cash payment activities have experienced significant growth. By the end of 2022, 82 credit institutions had implemented internet-based payment services, and 51 credit institutions had implemented mobile payment services. There are currently 48 intermediary payment organisations licensed by the SBV providing intermediary payment services in the market.

In comparison to 2021, non-cash payment transactions increased by 89.05% in volume and 32% in value. Transactions through internet channels increased by 98.54% in volume and 50.24% in value; transactions through mobile phone channels increased by 139.32% in volume and 106.54% in value; QR code transactions increased by 225.36% in volume and 243.92% in value.

Non-cash payment transactions increased by 53.51% in volume during the first three months of 2023 compared to the same period last year. Transactions through internet channels increased by 88.11% in volume and 7.43% in value; transactions through mobile phone channels increased by 65.55% in volume and 13.31% in value; QR code transactions increased by 160.71% in volume and 43.84% in value; POS transactions increased by 37.57% in volume and 32.09% in value; ATM transactions decreased by 2.37% in volume and 4.02% in value.

The National Public Service Portal has continued to expand its payment services. By the end of 2022, the portal had served over 4 million online payment transactions, totalling more than 3.53 trillion VND. As many as 61% of citizens had access to social insurance and unemployment benefits through personal accounts in urban areas.

Legal catch-up

There is still much to do to improve the banking sector’s digital transformation, however, said industry experts and policymakers.

Pham Anh Tuan, head of the payment department at the SBV, said more must be done to help speed up the transformation including enhancing institutional frameworks, leveraging population data in banking operations, upgrading infrastructure, prioritising resource allocation, and implementing effective communication strategies.

Regarding current regulations related to electronic transactions, digital signatures, electronic documents, electronic customer identification and authentication, data sharing, and customer information security, Tu?n said changes should be made to bring them closer to real life and the new economy.

He said there is still a lack of coordination and standardisation of infrastructure, which hinders the efficiency, connectivity and integration of a digital ecosystem. He stressed the importance of investing in human resources and infrastructure early for the next phase of development./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Russia and Cuba are working on 10 investment projects and seek to deepen mutually advantageous cooperation in the scientific-technical sphere, Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Ricardo Cabrisas said today.

When speaking at the 20th session of the Intergovernment Commission for economic-commercial and scientific-technical collaboration, the also head of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment (Mincex) announced the visit to Russia of Prime Minister Manuel Marrero.

Cabrisas highlighted that Marrero will participate, next June, in the Council of the Eurasian Economic Union (UEE), to be held in the Russian city of Sochi.

In this regard, the Deputy Head of Government estimated that Cuba could become a bridge connecting Eurasia with Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Minister of Mincex indicated, in this context, that the upcoming Games of the Future will be held, with the participation of athletes from the Brics group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Community of Independent States.

Similarly, he thanked the maintenance of cooperation with Russia to guarantee energy and wheat supplies, as well as the efforts to reorder Cuba’s debt.

At the same time, he referred to specific projects for the rehabilitation of the José Martí Antillana de Acero metallurgical company and the recovery of the Cuban air fleet, with planes such as the Il-96 and the TU-204.

The Cuban vice minister mentioned the possibilities of increasing and diversifying exports to Russia, including those related to the sphere of health services, tourism and biotechnology.

For his part, the Deputy Prime Minister and co-chairman of the aforementioned commission on the Russian side, Dmitri Chernyshenko, affirmed that his country was waiting for the visit of the head of Government of Cuba to the meeting of the Eurasian Economic Union, to be held from 7 to 9 next June in Sochi.

Chernyshenko referred to the supply to Cuba of energy, 25,000 tons of wheat and the donation of 4,500 lamps for public lighting in Havana.

The Russian Deputy Head of Government also mentioned the visit he is making this day to the Antillean Steel factory, where, after a rehabilitation process, he assured, some three thousand tons of steel should be produced per year.

Likewise, he indicated that Russia and Cuba are advancing in the process of mutual payments in national currencies, especially in rubles, and in the promotion of electronic commerce.

Chernyshenko offered details about Russia’s plans to increase the number of tourists to the Caribbean nation, with the increase this year in the frequency of flights with regular and charter companies.

Source: Lao News Agency

The Second ASEAN-China Online Influencers Conference themed “Cross Mountains and Seas to Meet in the Blessed Land” will be held in Fuzhou, China from 18 to 21 May.

The event will be co-hosted by the China Public Diplomacy Association, ASEAN-China Centre, Global Times Online, the Fujian Provincial Department of Commerce, the Foreign Affairs Office of Fujian Provincial People’s Government, the Fuzhou Municipal People’s Government and supported by the Fuzhou Municipal Bureau of Commerce, the Foreign Affairs Office of Fuzhou Municipal People’s Government, and Fuzhou Gucuo Group Co., Ltd.

ASEAN diplomatic envoys in China, Chinese and foreign media representatives, online influencers from China and ASEAN countries will be invited to participate in “A Visit to Fujian Province” and the Forum of ASEAN-China Online Influencers Conference, two activities of the event.

The Forum of ASEAN-China Online Influencers Conference, to be kicked off on the morning of May 19, will review the achievements of China-ASEAN cooperation since the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was proposed 10 years ago, and envision the prospects of China-ASEAN cooperation in economy and trade.

It will also discuss how Internet platforms and new media technologies should be utilized to facilitate China-ASEAN economic, trade and cultural cooperation.

“A Visit to Fujian Province” will comprehensively demonstrate Fuzhou’s urban landscape and economic development. Inviting participants to visit landmarks of the city such as the Binhai New Town and “Three Lanes and Seven Alleys,” the activity aims at promoting China-ASEAN economic, cultural and tourism cooperation.

It is believed that the Second ASEAN-China Online Influencers Conference will further promote economic and cultural exchanges between China and ASEAN countries, and bring the cooperation onto a new level.

Source: Lao News Agency